This is a long one with a bit of rambling at the start I guess ... I'm sorry for that ^^
Team 11
For the next two days Sakumo found himself in a weird state between excitement, curiosity, annoyance and resignation. Maybe there would be some special talent among his three students, maybe a model student, a genius like him, or somebody he knew. Maybe he should feel at least a bit curious even if it was likely that he wouldn't know any of them, because he had honestly never cared to befriend anybody who was younger than Sanae – and in all honesty it was also unlikely that there would be a genius like him … or a genius at all, to be frank. He was giddy and annoyed with himself. In the end it would probably just be a bunch of average kids, loud and annoying and … bratty. And really, there was nothing he could do against that, because it was the Hokage's decision who'd join his team.
He wondered whether Kagami had felt the same. Had he just resigned himself to whichever team Sarutobi had chosen for him?
Damn, if they were snot-nosed assholes or absolutely incapable he couldn't even reject them. Mostly, the Jonin-Sensei had a say in whether they accepted a team, and if they didn't the young shinobi were sent back to Academy until a Jonin finally would accept them. Now, however … As the war was still in progress and despite the nearing winter-break not expected to end anytime soon, the village couldn't exactly be picky with its new shinobi … so he couldn't be picky either. He'd just have to take them on and somehow make do with whatever team he was given.
And then he'd have to teach them and lead them into battle come spring. Or … was he supposed to rejoin his old team in spring and leave his Genin-team to some other team captain as cannon fodder or whatever? That would just be cruel.
When he went to the Academy to get a first glance at his team the next Monday he still didn't know who they'd be. Apparently, there was quite a bit of confusion. He'd been informed that two of the designated Senseis weren't able to do the job after all due to their deteriorating health. Also, though he thought the Hokage had agreed with him, that graduation at age 12 and only when they were skilled enough was most desirable, war had started and they needed new recruits and he guessed the entire situation was less than desirable … so even after the normal graduation exams last week they had given the students that had failed a second chance this morning to increase the number of graduates and thus of course the number of soldiers for the war. All that had thrown the planning into turmoil, so now he suspected, even the Hokage didn't know the teams yet.
And he was right. He entered the Academy through the head teacher's window to avoid the gathered masses of newly graduated Genin and their parents. Inside he found the Hokage, the head teacher, two teachers, including the Chunin he'd spied on for his Academy-mission – and really that was just awkward because he didn't quite know if they were on good terms now – and a bunch of his fellow Jonin – the future senseis.
His arm was still in a cast and tightly secured to his torso and with a raised eyebrow he noted bandages and casts at almost every Jonin in the room. Apparently, his estimation that they were all going to be cripples and sick people had been quite correct. He knew some of them from passing or some minor missions, but with most of them he wasn't even sure about their names. There was a woman almost twice his age with crutches, a pale boy, who couldn't be older than nineteen with a gruesome scar over his ear and face and bandages around his torso who was silently coughing, a man a few years older than him with a missing arm and an Uchiha with thick scars over his closed eyes and Sakumo was sure he'd been blinded by an enemy. There were others with less severe or permanent looking injuries, some others he assumed were just considered too old to fight and one that he assumed was just naturally sickly and frail. He with his destroyed arm … well he assumed he ranked somewhere in the middle if he'd had to sort the present Jonin by severity of their injuries. Apart from the sickly one and the scarred boy he didn't think any of the injuries were actually life threatening. But with a missing arm or leg or shattered bones or blind they weren't much help on the battle field either.
He thought of his father who years ago had come home from war with a severely broken leg. He'd still been a shinobi then and had all the demeanour of a shinobi and it hadn't been in anyway life threatening, but it had never really healed and for the longest time Sakumo remembered – before he had finally died from sickness – he hadn't been able to fight or run or even walk and stand without pain. He'd tried to conceal it, but by then Sakumo himself had been old enough and trained long enough in the arts of the shinobi to not be so easily fooled.
He could only hope his arm would heal well or that he could somehow get used to using his left hand, or else he would just end up like his father. Shinobi were weapons, tools for war and a shinobi who couldn't fight … well, was just a broken tool. His father at least had also been a father and a husband and a son to a family who needed him. Sakumo of course would be a husband and brother, still, but with Sanae and Akane all grown up, trained and respectable shinobi in their own right, spending most of their time on missions … he couldn't exactly picture himself sitting at home alone just waiting for his family to come back for a day or two before heading out again. They didn't exactly need him.
Maybe, he thought as he greeted the present shinobi, it wasn't all that bad, that he was given a team. Of course, he felt a bit sorry for the Genin of this year, whose teachers were not chosen because they were capable shinobi or the best to complement their skills, but because they just couldn't serve their village otherwise … But at least, Sakumo would have something to do.
How many of his fellow soon-to-be Jonin-Senseis were thinking along the same line, he wondered?
Two of the teachers were loudly discussing the skills of two of the graduates and in which teams to sort them and Sakumo didn't quite catch their names. Ya… something and Matsu…whatever, when the Hokage called a sudden stop to the discussion.
"I think we have our teams. Now for the senseis." He looked around the room, then he gathered some papers and pushed them to the scarred boy. "Team 1" he announced and one of the teachers scribbled down the names of the team on a scroll. "Team 2", he handed more paper to the blinded Uchiha and so on.
Sakumo waited a bit nervously as one after the other the teams were assigned and the Jonin trickled out of the room to collect their Genin-teams. The Hokage took a bit to assign senseis to teams 5, 8 and 9 until finally Sakumo was left with three other Jonin, when the Hokage pushed a stack of paper to him, without even glancing up, not giving it so much as a second thought. "Team 11," he announced.
Sakumo took the data sheets of his team and slipped out of the bureau without even glancing at the names. He took a first look at them while absentmindedly walking down the stairs towards were the Genin were making quite the ruckus. He passed the sickly Jonin who was leading his new team to a quiet class room, a girl with green…ish hair, an Inuzuka and a chubby boy with glasses. This had to be team 7, he remembered.
The first paper sheet just gave him general information about his duties as Jonin-Sensei, about what he was expected to teach them, the standard requirements they'd need to fulfil to make it to Chunin and what skills they had to have learned in the Academy. He just skimmed over the information. The next document was a copy from a mission scroll assigning their first D-ranked mission for the next day – collecting trash from the park. And then the moment he stepped into the big classrooms where 12 Genin were still waiting for their teachers, he finally read the first data sheet on his first team-member. He groaned as he read the name.
Great. That was just what he had needed … He didn't even read any further than the name and flipped through the other papers in his hand confirming his suspicions as to the identities of his other team-members. Just … magnificent, he thought sarcastically glancing up at the gathered graduates his gaze flickering to one of the boys he immediately recognized as one of his students.
He waited for the Jonin of Team 10 to collect his students, before he spoke up himself.
"Why are you all injured or sick?" a girl asked interrupting the Jonin.
"'Cause they don't have the strong shinobi to spare" one of – Sakumo recognized him immediately – his future Genins answered lazily.
"They're really scraping the bottom of the barrel here," the blonde next to him grunted with a disapproving frown on his face. "Whatever … it's war so I guess there's no other choice."
"Ise, Amaya." The Jonin just read the last name of his team and a quiet Uchiha girl stepped up and followed him and two others out of the room. Now that he looked around the class, there were quite a few Uchiha ranging from the youngest to the oldest graduates.
Sakumo stepped in front of the teacher's desk taking a final glance at the three names of his students. Just … great.
"Team 11", he started interrupting a boy who just started nagging him, whether he was maybe finally his teacher. He was not, Sakumo knew, because he had already found his students in the crowd. "Akimichi, Choza." The fattest boy in the class jumped up suddenly and a bit nervously before glancing at his friends obviously afraid they might not be with him in his team. He needn't have worried. "Nara, Shikaku." There was a relieved sigh by the Akimichi and a lazy nod from the Nara. "Yamanaka, Inoichi." Suddenly the Akimichi bumped his fist in the air as if he'd just won the lottery and wrapped his chubby arms around his two friends. Shikaku smiled gladly but also a bit uncomfortable with the crushing hug, while Inoichi tried to wrestle Choza away.
"Ah, cut it out, Choza" muttered Inoichi. "You're strangling us with your fat padding. You're so childish. As if they'd ever let us not join the same team. You know, Shika's dad has helped to build the teams, right?" He sounded beyond annoyed but not maleficent.
"Just come over here and follow me" demanded Sakumo leaving the room.
The three boys followed him through the corridor, not without bickering among themselves.
"You're so mean, Ino-stick!" cried the Akimichi indignantly.
"And you're really childish, Fatcho!" countered the Yamanaka with an annoyed grunt, as the Akimichi hit him against the shoulder. "Ow!"
"Just cut it out" said Shikaku, hands shoved in his pockets with a slight slump strolling after the two.
Sakumo arrived at an empty classroom and pushed the door open to let the three kids in.
That was just weird … He knew Shikaku a bit from his visits at Shikaruma's, the boy had even been at his wedding, though he remembered, he'd slept through most of the ceremony. He had nothing against Shikaku – really in that regard, he thought, he could have had worse picks for students. He was a lazy bum as much as his father, but if what he heard was true, he was just as much of a genius, too. And overall, he thought the Nara were an albeit slothful but pleasant bunch. He'd never met a Nara he didn't like. The problem was, however … that Shikaruma Nara, the boy's father was still somewhat his superior. And that was just awkward. He didn't really look forward to his boss hearing everything about his little missteps and failures and incompetence as a teacher – because he was sure he'd make a few mistakes every now and then – from his son and then he'd have to justify himself … or worse, because that was just the kind of guy Shikaruma was, he'd joke about it and never let him live it down.
As for the others … It wasn't quite as bad, he thought. He had gotten to know Choza's mother quite a bit those last years. She was a bit more … personal and in your face than most people he knew, and that could be quite uncomfortable he thought, now that he was her son's teacher. But it wasn't like they worked closely together, so he could easily avoid her, he hoped. And Inori Yamanaka … well, the leader of the intelligence division was quite the intimidating fellow. He guessed, that came with the job. After all he not only was able to invade your mind himself, but he had an army of subordinates at his back and call, that had very specific skill-sets in the mind-reading, interrogation and torturing departments. That in itself was reason enough for worry. And unlike the other two he didn't know Inori that well, only knew him from passing and from what Cho and Shikaruma had told him. Sure, the man too had been at his wedding, but that had been more of a 'you can't invite those two without inviting Inori'-kind of thing.
However, his relationship to those three individually aside … If he screwed up he'd just have to explain and justify himself to three of the most powerful – and he didn't mean the physical kind of powerful, but the political kind of powerful, though combat wise they were threatening as well – shinobi of Konoha.
He did not look forward to that.
"Okay," he started as all three had sat down, with the Yamanaka leaning more than sitting on one of the tables. "I'm Hatake Sakumo. You all obviously know each other already," that got a silent grunt from the Yamanaka, "and I at least know a bit about you, but how about you introduce yourselves to me before we get down to business?"
The three boys shared a few looks, until the Yamanaka took the lead. "I am Inoichi from the Yamanaka-Clan," he introduced himself formally but with a silent frown on his face.
Sakumo guessed that the boy could be difficult. Choza seemed much like his mother, a cheerful boy with not quite as much self-confidence and obviously a bit of a pouty defiance whenever he felt insulted – as Sakumo had witnessed already. Shikaku seemed to be a quiet, lazy boy, very comfortable with letting others take the lead. And Inoichi … well, he had just seemed mean and judgemental from what Sakumo had gathered so far. Also, intelligent and overall a bit bad-tempered.
"I think, you already know our Clan's technique," he went on and Sakumo didn't know whether it was just a general assumption by the boy, that every halfway decent Jonin in the village knew about the Yamanaka, or whether he'd heard about Sakumo before and knew, that Sakumo had indeed worked with a few Yamanakas already. He felt a silent pang as he suddenly remembered Kazuki's burned corpse.
Only after Sakumo blinked at the boy for a few times did he realize that that was all Inoichi was going to say. Practical and to the point, Sakumo added to his estimation of Inoichi's personality.
"How about you personally?" he asked after a moment. "Like your hobbies or what you like or what you want to …" He suddenly hesitated as he thought about the war and the likelihood of those boys ever reaching their adult years. Mortality among shinobi was high in general, among young and inexperienced shinobi even more so and during war … well. He coughed to mask his hesitation. "What you want for the future."
The blonde looked at his friends before turning back to Sakumo with a bit of a frown on his face. "Eh …," he started. "My hobbies?" He seemed a bit put out by the question and for a moment Sakumo feared the boy would just say 'shuriken and training' or something along that line, proving that he'd never been a child. Sakumo thought what he'd answer to the question and realized it wasn't that easy. As a kid, yeah … he'd probably have answered 'swordsmanship' or something like that. Growing up during war … even though he had tried, he, too, had never been a child after all. He had hoped this would be different for kids who grew up during relative peace time.
"I like flowers," answered the Yamanaka finally blushing faintly, then his frown deepened as if he expected Sakumo to mock him for his rather girlish and not warriorlike response.
Sakumo just blinked. That was … unexpected. It was definitely not 'shuriken and training'. He smiled a bit. Then he looked at the Akimichi to prompt him to speak.
"Choza!" The boy blurted. Then he blushed a bit. "I mean I'm Akimichi Choza. I think, you know my mom, right?" Sakumo nodded a bit put off by the excited boy. "Yeah, she mentioned you once or twice, I think. I like … ah … my friends." He hesitated, then he blushed a bit more. "I mean my team now, I guess. And I love eating out. Especially those all-you-can-eat buffets. You know that new barbecue place that opened just last year? They have buffet every Wednesday." He smiled broadly. "Maye you can take us there some time, Sensei. Since the war started, my parents don't really have the time anymore and I don't have enough money. I mean, I spent all my pocket money already. For that Ramen Eating Contest last month." Sakumo just stared at the talking boy. "They said, they'd pay the expanses of the winner, and I thought I could do it, you know … anyway … so …" He finally stopped as he realized Sakumo was staring at him.
"Well, you lost," muttered Inoichi the moment the Akimchi suddenly quieted. "So, stop telling that story to everybody who doesn't want to hear it, when you didn't even win. I mean, I'm not blurting out to everybody about me always being the second or third best at kunai-throwing practice."
Choza blushed shyly, then pouted and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Well, you just blurted it out, dumbass," he retorted. Now, it was Inoichi who blushed.
"Yeah, whatever," muttered the blonde, "your cousin won and that's really not important here, anyway. Unless you just wanted to warn Sensei about you eating all our mission rations in advance or something like that." He crossed his arms himself and the two boys glared at each other until Sakumo coughed silently to get their attention back.
"Anyway," the Akimich ended his introduction, "my cousin won. But that was really not fair. If it had been anybody else, I was sure to win." He grinned, but the grin soured immediately when the Yamanaka muttered:
"Sure, cause only an Akimichi can out-eat an Akimichi."
"Oh, shut up and go back to growing your roses. Normal people can't just live on water and sunlight like you," retorted Choza.
Inoichi glared at him but before he could throw another insult, Shikaku interrupted the two.
"Shikaku Nara," he just said, and the other two boys got quiet. "I've been at your wedding."
"Slept through my wedding" corrected Sakumo.
Shikaku grinned a bit. "Whatever. It's my hobby."
"Going to weddings?" asked Sakumo amused but also a bit irritated.
"Sleeping."
"You're just like your father," Sakumo couldn't help but mutter, immediately fearing the boy would tell his father about the comment but Shikaku only laughed quietly.
"I like watching the deer in our Clan's forest. And I like playing shogi … when it's not too bothersome."
Worse than his father, Sakumo corrected his former statement silently.
"What about you?" asked Choza before Sakumo could change the topic.
Oh, right … maybe he should say something more about himself.
"Well, I'm Sakumo of the Hatake-Clan. We're just a small clan, so maybe you haven't heard about it," he added prompting Inoichi to snort. Sakumo looked at him questioningly.
"You really have no idea about your own fame, huh?" snorted the Yamanaka. "You're the White Fang, aren't you?"
Sakumo nodded. Indeed … Sanae had mentioned that his old fame had resurged during those few weeks he'd spent leading on the battlefield. But he hadn't exactly thought about it that much and confined to his room in the hospital there hadn't been any need to.
"What's the White Fang?" asked the Akimichi frowning in deep thought.
Inoichi groaned annoyed, but he didn't answer. Sakumo smiled at Choza, a bit happy that not everybody knew him by some nickname his enemies had given him.
"No, really? What do you mean with 'White Fang'?" asked Choza when nobody answered him
"He is," said Shikaku after a moment nodding in Sakumo's direction. "Don't know why, but that's what he's called. He's supposedly really strong." There was a bit of doubt in his voice as both he and Inoichi glanced at the Hatake and Sakumo suddenly felt scrutinized and judged.
"Not impressed," grunted Inoichi shrugging, eyes glued at Sakumo's cast. "If he were that good …"
He didn't have time to finish, because Choza suddenly piped up: "Really! So, we'll have an actual legend for a Sensei! Damn, that's so cool. I was a bit worried. Mum always said, they'd just give me some idiot jonin for a sensei."
Both Inoichi and Shikaku frowned at that and Sakumo looked a bit lost, so Choza elaborated.
"Well, I mean she said, because it's war, all the good people would be off fighting. Said if I were better, I'd have graduated last year, and they'd give me a cool sensei, but because it's now, they'd just have to scrap the bottom of the barrel." He looked a bit flustered. Then he smiled apologetically at Sakumo. "Sorry."
"Never mind." It was a bit what he himself had thought. Though, even if he had 'minded' he probably wouldn't have told Choza. He was already getting a head ache.
"So," he went on, "I've only now been given your data sheets, so I think we can just head out and make a team training exercise, so I get a first real glance at your skill before looking at your Academy results." He tapped at the stack of papers in his hands. "Then, we'll have our first mission tomorrow."
"Oh, yeah," exclaimed Choza pumping his massive fists into the air in excitement. "Formation: Ino-Shika-Cho is now officially on duty!"
Shikaku smiled a bit, Inoichi just looked annoyed. Sakumo didn't really know what to say to that, so he headed out for the training grounds.
When they stepped outside of the Academy they passed some other teams and Choza was about to run for the Academy training grounds before Inoichi called him back with an annoyed grunt.
"We're not academy students anymore, idiot."
"Oh, yeah …" The Akimichi blushed a bit and followed the other members of team 11 towards the Konoha training area.
It was a busy day, Sakumo realized. In addition to seventeen new Genin teams out and about, there were other teams preparing to go out to war, some throwing them curious glances. Sakumo didn't really want to have his first glance at his team's level of skill altered by any distraction from a loud audience. He wanted to see them at their best, and if they weren't as good as he expected … or really even if they only were normal Genin or even Chunin level, some of his fellow Konoha Shinobi could be quite mean with their words and if any of his pupils had a confidence issue, that would be detrimental to their skill. Of course, it would be something they'd have to work on eventually, but he wanted his first look at his team to be unadulterated.
So, he searched for a private area a bit into the woods.
"Alright" he stopped when he finally estimated that they were indeed alone. Then he glanced at the sun. It was already way past noon. He realized he hadn't really prepared for this. Kagami-Sensei had made them go through some sort of test that involved Sakumo getting the shit kicked out of him by his teacher. That was about the only thing he remembered from that first day. And Yashiro being a bit of a jackass to Akane. "I want you to catch me until sundown."
"Catch you?" That was Inoichi. "What do you mean, 'catch you'? It's not like you're a Jonin or anything," he grunted and pushed his hands in his pockets. It was a bit curious how different the posture of both Shikaku and Inoichi were, though both their bodies stood a bit slouched with hands in their pockets. Inoichi seemed annoyed and a bit defiant. Shikaku just looked lazy and absent.
"Well, I'm not exactly at my best health right now" admitted Sakumo moving his arm a bit. "So, it should be fair." He shrugged, because it really wasn't. If he couldn't defeat a bunch of Genin, even with all four limbs broken that would be a cause for worry. "And anyway, it's not like you'll have to defeat me. You could just trap me or something. Let's just say … yeah, that should do it. If you throw me into the water, you win. It should be fun."
Inoichi didn't look amused and Shikaku just looked sceptical. Choza was all in, though. Sakumo decided, he liked Choza. Inoichi on the other hand was just an annoying little git. Shikaku … well, he'd met sleeping pills that had been more active.
"Well, let's start" he grunted and with that, he was gone.
Without so much as a second thought he made himself comfortable in a nearby tree and started to read their data sheets. He had intended to put that off a bit … but really, why waste the time? He glanced down at his students who were still blinking at the thin air, he'd left behind.
"WHAT!?" That was Choza screaming. "He just … How are we supposed to catch him, if he's just …?"
"That's Shunshin" muttered Inoichi and Sakumo thought he heard a silently added insult. He'd thought those three were friends the way their parents were but so far Inoichi just seemed offensive.
The first data sheet he looked at was Shikaku's. Name, age, birthday, physical characteristics … he just skimmed through them and finally landed at his academy results. He was a bit surprised to realize that he'd just been dead average as far as grades went. Well, if he was as lazy as his father, that was easily explained. Also, it proved Shikaku apparently had had no wish to graduate early. It made Sakumo wonder why he'd suddenly decided to graduate now at age 11 and not wait another year. Maybe his father had pressured him? But that was unlike Shikaruma …
He looked at the second sheet, Inoichi's, and his question was easily answered. Inoichi had good grades throughout. Not one of those high flyer geniuses the Academy saw every now and then, but good. Very good actually. There was a note that a teacher had asked him to graduate last year already, but Inoichi had declined. The teacher had expressed wonderment about that, as Inoichi was apparently 'very eager to learn the ninja arts, studious and dutiful', as the teacher had put it. There was another note, that he was 'slowed down in his progress by Nara Shikaku and his laziness'. So, maybe Shikaku had wanted to wait and Inoichi had waited with him and this year, Inoichi hadn't been willing to wait any longer and Shikaku just went along?
He skimmed down through some of the other comments by the teachers. There was constant praise for Inoichi, and consternation at the bad influence of Shikaku. Not much mentioning of Choza. Maybe, he'd been wrong, and Inoichi and Choza actually weren't that close.
The boys down on the ground had started arguing between themselves about what to do. Shikaku seemed a bit less lazy than normally but still unwilling to put much effort into their task. Choza made to search the near vicinity.
Choza's data sheet proved him to be a horrible student. 'Cheerful and friendly' the teachers wrote 'sometimes a bit shy'. One teacher called him 'a horrible shinobi though not due to lack of effort. Not meant for fighting'. Apparently, it was uncommon for a Clan member to show that little talent. Sakumo frowned at that. He actually felt a bit defensive over Choza who so far was the only one he actually liked between the three.
Choza had apparently failed the exams two days ago and just graduated this morning on his second attempt. It made Sakumo wonder, whether Shikaku and Inoichi would have just left Choza behind destroying the next generation of the fabled Ino-Shika-Cho before it even really came to be.
He glanced at his students. Inoichi now ordered Choza to come back. Then he sat down in a meditative position and shortly after that Sakumo had the distinct feeling of shifting chakra that reminded him a bit of Akane whenever she cast out her chakra to enhance her sensing abilities. So, he had a sensor type here. He masked his presence. It wasn't necessarily his strong point, he thought. He wouldn't be able to fool high class sensors. But Inoichi was just a kid, after all.
In fact, Inoichi didn't sense him. After a moment, Sakumo reprimanded himself. He had wanted to see their skill and not give them an impossible task. Inoichi was doing the right thing, so what else was Sakumo waiting for? For the Yamanaka to suddenly rise to Jonin and above level sensor skill? He put his documents back in his pouch and gradually demasked his own chakra.
He made a mental note at what point Inoichi suddenly perked up and turned to his comrades.
"I have him!" He exclaimed looking at his teammates.
"Really?" Shikaku blinked disbelieving making the Yamanaka pout a bit.
"You know, we Yamanaka are great sensors, right?" blurted Inoichi out a bit indignantly. He sounded prideful.
Maybe as a newly appointed Sensei it was a normal thing to compare his new team to his old team. If he was the Sensei that meant he was Kagami … Though, he thought, he made a poor Kagami. On the other hand, Choza already had somewhat of a hero worship for him since the moment Inoichi had mentioned his 'White Fang'-nickname. Then … Shikaku of course was like him, back when he was young. Genius, not too keen on graduating the academy, the quiet and observing type. Of course, the comparison was a bit poor as they had absolutely different reasons for not graduating as soon as they were ready. But there were enough similarities to make the comparison proper, he decided while watching Shikaku silently take the lead.
It had happened swiftly and before any of them even knew it, Shikaku took leadership in his hands and gave them a plan – of course a plan that would be of no value as Sakumo was able to overhear every word, but he had to give them props for effort. Inoichi seemed a bit put off, Sakumo thought. He'd taken up the leader role for the longest part of the day, but now as it got important … He didn't complain, but there was the slightest frown on his face and a scrutinizing look as if he was just searching for the mistake in Shikaku's plan.
Choza of course would be Akane. Again, the comparison didn't quite add up, if only for the difference in gender, but it still seemed so obvious. He was the worst by grades, but hard working and trying his best. He remembered how Akane had been when she was young, always trying her best, always doing more than was necessary or expected, always putting in extra effort and taking extra training hours to somehow catch up to her two teammates, always quick to action … The way Choza had immediately taken to search the vicinity a tedious and tiresome task with no promise whatsoever of result … he reminded Sakumo a bit of a young Akane who had not yet found her strengths. Also, Akane had been the heart of their team … She'd been so different, not raised by trained killers, still enjoying her childhood as much as she could despite the early death of her parents. Still feeling as though these little things, like playing around, like taking their team and friends out to eat or like meeting at evenings for some fun, actually mattered. Yashiro and he, they'd just been about work and training and never really done anything to bond with their team beyond that. It had been Akane's idea he remembered, to arrange those team-eating-outs every few days.
Inoichi … Well, there was only one person left, so Inoichi had to be the Yashiro of their team. And that was so fitting. Dutiful, bad-tempered, prideful, with a certain clan-arrogance and ambitious for leadership. He didn't want to think like that, it wasn't fair to Inoichi nor Yashiro … but he couldn't really help it when those thoughts entered his mind.
It gave him an actual head ache. It wasn't like he was on bad terms with Yashiro. He'd never had any problems with the Uchiha leaving his team … but he wouldn't know how he could teach somebody who was like Yashiro. Who was so unlike himself. He tried to push the thought away and just observe with no judgement whatsoever, but he failed abysmally.
When they attacked, their strategy was sound. In the end, it failed, because Sakumo had known all along what their plan was, so when Inoichi used his Mind-Body-Jutsu the second he thought Sakumo was incapable of defending himself, Sakumo disbanded the clone Shikaku had caught in his shadow binding technique and Inoichi slumped in defeat, as his soul was still rushing back to his body. Sakumo used the chance to securely tie him around a tree and when he woke up, he was well and truly caught.
"Choza!" called the Yamanaka. "Help me out, here." The overweight Genin came closer snickering a bit. "And damn it, that's not funny!"
"Sorry, sorry …"
Sakumo didn't interfere, while Choza freed Inoichi, instead he had his eyes on Shikaku who was thinking on a new strategy. The boy was really brilliant, he realized. The strategy had been ingenious. Of course, there was hardly anything a Genin could do, to catch a more experienced Jonin, but even still ... He'd have given them that win, he thought, if Inoichi hadn't so utterly screwed up. As a sensor, it had been his job to realize the Sakumo they attacked, had been a clone. He reprimanded himself for that line of thought. He was unfair to Inoichi and he knew it … but that had been it during his time with Kagami-Sensei, right? Yashiro had screwed up their teamwork every time … Because he was to prideful to admit, when he was outmatched. So, Inoichi should have just realized …
But just like there was hardly a chance for a Genin to administer a strategy a more experienced Jonin would actually fall for and that way defeat him, it was even more difficult for a Genin to sense a Jonin if the Jonin wanted to remain hidden.
Though, he reminded himself, that had been why he had only masked his chakra to the point where Inoichi had been able to sense him earlier.
Again, that was an unfair estimation, as Inoichi back then had put all his effort into sensing, while now, he was fighting.
The next strategy failed just like the first. Again, it was really sound, but this time it had been Choza who had attacked just a split second too late. Inoichi reprimanded the Akimichi for that and muttered something about incompetence and … really that was just rich, as Inoichi had been the one to screw up the last time.
In all honesty, the third strategy probably only failed because Sakumo had put a bit too much effort into making it fail, and the fourth was obviously just not up to par, Shikaku apparently running out of ideas. That didn't stop Sakumo from looking at Inoichi for blame, though. Inoichi had not been able to jump out of the way in time for Choza to attack. Inoichi hadn't pointed out the mistakes in Shikaku's plan although the deepening frown on his face had made evident, that he'd seen them.
Sun set, and he met his tired and sweating students on the same clearing they had started their training exercise on hours ago. Shikaku and Choza were sitting on the ground, Shikaku leaning against a wooden log for target exercise while Choza had just heavily dropped on his bum. Inoichi was still standing but bent over and bracing himself against his knees.
"Good work," Sakumo offered with an apologetic smile. "You were a bit late with that punch or you'd have had me there, Choza. We'll work on your timing. Your last strategy was shabby at best, Shikaku, and you need to learn to reserve your chakra more. If the fight is to last until sunset, you can't risk losing your energy before that." Shikaku nodded tiredly. He seemed close to passing out. Sakumo glanced at Inoichi. "As for you, Inoichi, you should have sensed that the person you were fighting was just a clone. Leaving yourself defenceless in battle could be the end of you and your team. Also, you should really stay out of close combat. It's not your strength, and at one point, Choza almost crushed you along with me." Inoichi stared at him for a moment, then he just nodded. "And why didn't you point out the flaw's in Shikaku's plan?"
"It wasn't like I had a better idea" admitted Inoichi. "I mean we had already tried everything else, so ..." He shrugged.
Sakumo could only nod at that. Of course, it made sense. "Alright." He looked at all three of them. "Get home, eat something, get some rest. We'll meet tomorrow at 7 in front of the Hokage tower."
With that he vanished again leaving his students blinking at empty air once more.
That day, Sakumo realized, at least he had learned that he was able to fight with his left. He was nowhere close to full power, but he thought he was still a match for every average Jonin and could probably deal with every Chunin he knew.